Pieces
by xsuitcaseofmemoriesx
Summary: The glee club members are graduating. This is their moment to relive the moments, little pieces, of their lives. Short vignettes. Finn/Rachel, Puck/Quinn, and Tina/Artie, with a sprinkling of other ships, and a focus on friendships and relationships.
1. Time of Your Life

**A/N: This is my first fanfic I've ever published, so please be please be nice when commenting :) I hope you enjoy. This is just basically about the day the Gleeks graduate from high school, and them looking back on memories from their lives. Each chapter is a little vignette, I guess you could call it. If anyone has done a similar idea before, or has used a similar idea in one of the memories, I did NOT mean to steal your work/ideas and it is merely a coincidence. I guess you could say the main ships are Finn/Rachel, Quinn/Puck, and Tina/Artie, with puny bits of other ships, but really it concentrates more on characters on their own. I'll upload a few chapters today, but then I'll wait until I get at the _very least_ five reviews. They'll keep me motivated :) I'm going to shut up now so you can read!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, though I sure wish I did.**

**Song: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day**

_Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go  
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why  
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time  
It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right  
I hope you had the time of your life_

It was graduation day. The sky was ironically gray and dreary, as if it was foreshadowing the bland, unpromising futures of the WMHS senior class. The football field was a sea of red and white, the school colors. Finn Hudson twitched nervously in his seat, but winked at his girlfriend Rachel as she climbed up the stage. She would sing the national anthem in a few minutes. He had those few minutes to relive his short life of eighteen years.

If he looked behind him, he could see Puck, who was most likely thinking more about the girls he could bang in college than his academic future. Quinn was just a couple rows ahead of Finn, chatting quietly with Santana and Brittany. Artie's wheelchair was in the first row, but Artie couldn't take his eyes off of Tina, a few rows behind. Kurt, his step-brother, sat right next to him, asking Finn every other second if the mortarboard was messing up his hair. His mother and step-father, Burt, sat in the stands holding hands. Finn saw a tear running down his mom's face and felt like crying himself.

"Your dad would be so proud," his mom mouthed, and Finn's memories trickled back into his mind.

_Preschool_

"Mommy, where's Daddy?" Finn Hudson asked, pushing his toy car along the rough carpeting.

His mom's smile broke into the strangest expression.

"What do you mean, honey?"

"Daddy. Where is he? Bring Your Dad to School Day is next week, and everyone's talking about their dads. But all I have is a picture. I don't know who he is or where he went."

She ruffled his hair. "Your daddy's away. He got in an accident while he was in the army, and he's in a better place now."

"How can that place be better than here?"

"I don't know, hun." Her voice cracked. She pulled Finn into her lap and stroked his hair.

"Is he ever gonna come back?" he asked softly.

"No, honey. But he's always thinking about you."

Just a little preview. ;) Please review, it means so much to me!


	2. Friends Will Be Friends

_**A/N: This chapter's pretty short, as most of them will be. As I said before, they're just little vignettes. Enjoy and please review :)**_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee :'(_**

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_**Character: Finn**_

_**First grade.**_

_Friends will be friends, right 'til the end._

The rubber playground ball flew right into his cheek. _Smack._

"Ow!" Tears ran down his face.

"Baby," said a little mohawked boy. "A wimp like you deserves a wedgie."

"W-what?"

"The name's Noah Puckerman. But call me Puck. If you call me Noah, you're a piece of dead meat." Puck stuck out his hand to shake, but quickly turned it into a fist. "TURKEY!" He ran away and pushed a girl into the asphalt.

And for some reason, from that moment on, Finn and Puck were inseperable.


	3. The Best Day

**_A/N: It's Kurt! I'll upload one more chapter after this, then I'll wait until I get some reviews._**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. :'(_**

**_Song: The Best Day – Taylor Swift_**

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**_Character: Kurt_**

**_Kindergarten._**

_I don't know why all the trees change in the fall_

_But I know you're not scared of anything at all_

_Don't know if Snow White's house is near or far away_

_But I know I had the best day with you today_

All he wanted when he was five was a pair of heels. Upsdell red, preferably. He always sat on the floor of his parents' room with a JC Penney catalog, pouring over the various clothing items and taking in the scent of his mother's perfume.

"Mommy? Can I have a pair of these for my birthday?"

"Oh, sweetie. Those are awfully uncomfortable. I know from experience."

"But I want some."

"I love you, Kurt." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the forehead.

That gloomy June day, his senior graduation, if he closed his eyes really tight, he could still smell her.

"Kurt, are you constipated?" Finn whispered.

"Why do you ask?"

"Your eyes are all scrunchy. Like my mom's when I used to play the drums and she said I was giving her indigestion."

"No, silly. I'm thinking about my mom."

Finn's expression softened with understanding. "Oh." He patted Kurt on the shoulder. "I bet right now she's up there, thinking of how proud she is of her son."


	4. Desperate

_**A/N: Rachel, my fave character :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. If I did, Rachel would've been rescued by the rest of the Gleeks after the egging. :/**_

_**Song: Desperate – David Archuleta**_

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_**Character: Rachel**_

_**Ninth grade.**_

_All those tears._

_And all the pain._

_And all the days you wasted pushing them away._

_It's your life._

_It's time to face it._

Rachel had gotten along just fine through elementary school. Who needed friends when you could sing? Her dads said she was the prettiest girl with the most beautiful voice in the world. Rachel Barbara Berry didn't need friends when she had won more talent contests than she could count on her ten fingers.

She got along fine in middle school. The loneliness began to creep in, the emptiness, the feeling that she was missing something, when she saw groups of girls giggling in the hallways. But she felt that she wasn't missing out on too much. While they wasted their time on boys and gossip, she spent her time practicing piano or vocal runs or exercising on her elliptical.

But she saw the way everyone looked at her, like she was some intruder in their precious lives. Though she didn't let anyone catch onto it, under her tough skin, she cared about her reputation. She hoped that freshman year in a new big school would give her a chance to start anew.

Her first day was anything but that. She was greeted by an ice-cold slushie in the face. Blue raspberry. On the day of her high school graduation, she still remembered the taste of it on her lips, the horrible feeling of the chunky ice running into her eyes for the very first time.

On that day in ninth grade, she ran into the nearest girls' bathroom and started to cry. Her new blouse and plaid skirt were ruined by the blue junk. She splashed her face with water and tried unsuccessfully to remove the stains from her shirt.

"It's not gonna come off, Celine Dion," said a well-dressed boy—wait, a well-dressed _boy_? In the girls' bathroom? Rachel took a double take.

"Karofsky and Co. were nice enough to give me a preview on the last day of eighth grade." He spritzed hairspray on his already sticky hair.

"May I ask why in the _world_ you are in the girls' bathroom?"

"You don't know how _disgusting_ the boys' room is. Plus, I think I belong here more."

Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"I'm Kurt Hummel. Always bring a towel and a spare change of clothes; you'll find they come in handy," he said. And just when Rachel was starting to think he could be one of her first friends ever, he added, "And your hair looks disgusting like that."

He flounced away. Rachel looked from his retreating figure to her reflection in the mirror and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a ride.


	5. Crush

_**A/N: Here's another drabble :) Enjoy and please review, it would mean a lot to me!**_

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_**Character: Finn**_

_**Seventh grade.**_

_It's just a little crush_

_Not like I faint every time we touch._

"Who do you like?" Puck asked at their sleepover. The action movies were getting boring and there was nothing else to talk about.

"Whadda you mean?" Finn asked nervously.

"You know what I mean, Lima loser." Puck replied, roughly nudging Finn's shoulder.

To be honest, Finn hadn't become too interested in girls yet. Or rather, he was too busy to become interested. He was concentrating more on making his mom proud, which meant barely keeping his grades up and playing sports. It didn't mean he didn't notice a pretty girl when he saw one; he just didn't really give it a chance to develop into anything more than a fleeting thought.

Puck broke his daze. "Yo, Finn. Are you going gay on me or something?"

"Quinn Fabray." It just slipped out of his mouth, really. She was on the junior cheerleading league that would cheer at his community football games. And she was in his English class. He noticed that after almost every time he said something in class, she was rolling her eyes at some grammatical error or inaccuracy in what he said. Especially after he read his poorly-written poem on when it drizzles. Y'know, when it's not really raining so it smells like rain, but you don't need an umbrella to go outside? He actually kind of liked that poem. But he thought she was pretty enough, with her long blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"Ohhh, nice." Puck replied, stuffing his mouth with buttery popcorn. "You know she's hard to get, though. With that little cross she's always clutching around her neck."

"Yeah, I guess. It's not like I need to go out with her or anything."

"Mmhm. That's what they all say. I'll try to get her for you someday."

Finn's stomach lurched.


	6. Just Dance

_**Character: Matt Rutherford**_

_**Present time.**_

_Just dance, gonna be okay._

_Just dance, spin that record babe._

His words were meaningless. He felt like no one ever listened when he tried to talk, so he didn't.

He found dance, then football, his form of expression instead. In sixth grade, he found a guy just like himself. Mike Chang. They became best friends. They didn't need to talk. They didn't need to fill silences. They could just watch a movie, or dance, or share looks across the room. To them, a raised eyebrow or sly smirk meant more than a word ever could.


	7. Permanent

_**Character: Artie**_

_**Third grade.**_

_All you know seems so far away_

_And everything is temporary, rest your head._

_I'm permanent._

The rush. The wind in his hair. His skinny legs pounding against the concrete. It was an amazing feeling.

"Honey, we're going to the grocery store!"

Into the car, with a Nintendo DS in hand.

"Hun, do you always have to be playing those silly little video games?"

"I'm just about to kill the trolls!"

His mother sighed.

"When will you ever—"

For a moment, time slowed down. A car collided with theirs as they crossed the intersection. Made impact right where Artie was seated. Glass shattered with a deafening noise. It was raining glass.

"ARTIE!"

He slipped into subconsciousness. When he woke, in a blank room, lying in an unfamiliar bed, he couldn't feel his legs.

He couldn't rip that last exhilarating moment on his feet from his mind, even on the day he graduated high school. He wheeled himself up a ramp (made especially for him) to receive his diploma. He looked out into the crowd. Tina sat in her folding chair, eagerly clapping, tears streaming from her eyes.

He was lucky to have a girl like her.

He hoped, someday, they could _both_ walk down the aisle. Husband and wife.

Though, when he thought about it, wheeling down the aisle wouldn't be so bad.

He'd still be with the girl he loved.


	8. Aftermath

_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for a while! I was on a trip for the last five days and had no access to a computer. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Enjoy, and please review! :)_

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_**Character: Kurt**_

_**Second grade.**_

_Anytime anybody pulls you down_

_Anytime anybody says you're not allowed_

_Just remember, you are not alone_

_In the aftermath._

Kurt never realized he was different until second grade. That was when he got his first crush. On Leonardo DiCaprio.

His mom was really sick. But sometimes, they would lay on her bed together and watch _Titanic_. There was always a box of tissues and a bowl of popcorn between them. They both cried every time.

Kurt knew, when he was older, that his dad had been aware of his Leonardo DiCaprio obsession. He just stayed out of it, to avoid awkwardness, Kurt assumed.

It was when Kurt started ranting about Leo in class that the teasing started Little boys who barely knew the meaning of "gay" called him names. When he was older, he got the anonymous calls, the dumpster throws, the slushies. At first, he would cry himself to sleep. But over the years, these things came to have no meaning to him. It was just a word, just a slushie, just a call. Sticks and stones could break his bones, but words could never hurt him.

The day his mom died, he didn't understand. That night, he slept on the floor of his parents' room. _Titanic_ on repeat. His mother's perfume in the air.


	9. Ordinary Day

A/N: I know a lot of my chapters have been pretty short lately, so I made one a little longer! Enjoy! :)

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_**Character: Rachel**_

_**Tenth grade.**_

_And as he spoke he spoke ordinary words_

_Although they did not feel_

_For I felt what I had not felt before_

_You'd swear those words could heal_

_As I look up into those eyes_

_His vision borrows mine_

_And I know he's no stranger,_

_For I feel I've held him for all of time._

She had been hopeless. Miserable. Until she heard his voice. Until she saw his face. Like the first day he really acknowledged her existence—

_I've got chills_

_They're multiplyin'_

_And I'm loosing control_

—and today.

"Hey, Rachel, wait up." He stood in front of her on the stairwell. She marveled at the fact that, for the first time ever, she was taller than him.

He began to rant, something about how they need to be leaders, blah blah blah…

All she could think about was how adorable he looked when he was determined. And how his hair was curling in the cutest way. And his chocolate brown eyes digging into hers. She stared at his mouth, forming words she wasn't comprehending.

That was when she realized she loved him. To pieces. Every single thing about him. He had hurt her so many times, but she was nothing without him.

"We're going to Regionals, and we're gonna win this thing!"

She wanted to kiss him. So she did. As she leaned in, she thought, "I love you."

It had been too long since her lips were on his. Months ago, at the bowling alley… but she couldn't start making out with him in the stairwell. So she broke away. The kiss was short. It was sweet. It was perfect.

Finn wrinkled his brow and squinted in confusion. _He cannot get any more adorable,_ Rachel thought to herself.

Without a word, he smiled her, and she smiled warmly back at him. Then, she took his hand and they walked to the choir room.

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"Remember that time you kissed me in the stairwell before Regionals?" Finn asked Rachel as her dads and his mom took about five million pictures of them before prom.

"Duh!" she said, elbowing him with a smirk. "You know that I didn't hear a word you said—all I could think about was how adorable you looked."

"And all I can think about right now is how gorgeous you look, Rach."

"Oh, stop it."

"It's true." He leaned forward and kissed her, resulting in their parents snapping pictures like crazy. Finn and Rachel giggled.

"Let's go, handsome," she said, grabbing his hand in her gloved one.


	10. Better Together

_A/N: I know I've had a lot of fluffy, shippy stuff recently. I guess I'm more of a fluff writer than an angsty one :) But I will try to write some more angsty, or at least less rainbows-and-glitter chapters. But for now… another fluffy one._

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_**Characters: Quinn**_

_**Twelfth grade.**_

_I believe in memories_

_They look so, so pretty when I sleep_

_But there is not enough time_

_There is no, no song I could sing_

_And there is no combination of words I could say_

_But I will still tell you one thing_

_We're better together._

"Puck, what could you possibly have to show me? I wanna get out of this hellhole, don't you? Too many bad memories." Quinn whined as Puck tugged her down the hallway after the last bell had rung. Not just the last bell of the day, or the year, but of their high school careers.

"There's gotta be some good memories, right?" Puck said, smirking.

"Maybe. I regret most of my horrid decisions. Like having sex with you. But not going out with you."

Puck's smile grew. "We're here."

"The Home Ec room? Seriously, Puck? I thought you wouldn't be caught dead here—"

"Unless I was helping my girlfriend make cupcakes."

"_I don't care if that baby comes out with a Mohawk, I will go to my grave swearing that it's Finn's."_

"Oh. I remember that."

"Yeah," Puck replied, gesturing to the baking supplies and yellow rose laid out on the table.

Quinn casually picked up an egg. "You are such an egghead," she said, remembering the time she said it two years before.

_Crack._ The gooey yellow yolk ran down Puck's forehead.

Puck flung a handful of brown sugar at her, and the fight began. Egg and flour lay in clumps in her hair, but Quinn didn't care. She just wanted to be there, giggling, his arm around her waist.

"But you're my favorite egghead," she whispered.


	11. Beautiful

_A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated the last couple of days! I started writing a chapter, but realized it wasn't working, then had a little case of writer's block. Finally, I wrote this future piece! I set out to write something angsty, and here I have more fluff. *sigh* At least it's not shippy fluff (more of that next chapter! ;]) Enjoy, and please review! :)_

_Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own the song "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera or the show Glee. If I did, Rachel would wear sequined legwarmers often._

….

_**Character: Mercedes**_

_**The future.**_

"Mercedes Jones! Look over here, please!"

"Mercedes! Sign this, please!"

"Excuse me, Ms. Jones, are you still in a relationship with Matt Rutherford?"

Mercedes peered out from behind her bodyguards' huge bodies.

It was still hard to believe, even after a year.

Just like her whole Glee club had said she would, she won American Idol, years after high school. The very last year she was allowed to due to the age limit. In fact, the very last season there ever was of American Idol.

The day was still fresh in her mind...

_Ryan Seacrest, whose hair was starting to gray at the roots, clears his throat. Mercedes's clammy hand clenches her competitor's._

_"And the 2022 American Idol, winner of Season 21, the very last American Idol, is..."_

_This feeling, this situation, was all too familiar to Mercedes Jones. She had awaited the results of Sectionals, Regionals, and eventually Nationals with her high school Glee club numerous times. Senior year, when they finally won Nationals, was the most incredible feeling. Nothing could go wrong. Nothing could stop them._

_"... MERCEDES JONES!"_

_As confetti falls and tears stream down her face, Mercedes says into the microphone, "I have to thank my Glee club for this. I couldn't have been so successful without them and I love them so much." She blows a kiss toward the audience._

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Mercedes weaved through the throng of fans, signing CDs, t-shirts, and posters people throw her way before the opening show of her tour.

"Were you popular in high school?" says a girl in her early teens as Mercedes signs her CD.

"No, not at all. I was in the _Glee club, _girl, and that put me in 'sub-basement' as the cheerleading coach liked to say. Why you ask, honey?"

"It seems to me only the popular people are succesful." the girl sighed.

Mercedes paused from the poster she was signing and looked the girl in the eye.

"That isn't true. At all. If you have big dreams, sweetie, you can achieve them, no matter how popular you are. 'Member that." Mercedes waved goodbye to the girl as she moved farther down the line of fans.

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_This is incredible,_ Mercedes though as she scanned the full arena; people waving overpriced glowsticks and snapping pictures. _No Rachel to steal my solos now, huh?_ Mercedes smiled fondly at her high school frenemy-ship with the now-Broadway-star.

"Hey, everyone! Y'all ready for a good time?" The crowd screamed in reply.

Mercedes quickly ran back to the band director. "Change of plans," she whispered. "My new single can wait. I'm gonna sing something different first." Mercedes walked back toward the edge of the stage.

"Okay! I'm gonna start with one of my favorite songs I sang in high school. You know, I was a cheerleader for a while? I thought I wasn't thin enough, and that I needed more friends. But then, I realized that I had all the friends I could ever want. In Glee club. They supported me through the toughest times and told me I was beautiful. And you," she pointed at the crowd, "are all beautiful. Every single one of you."

Mercedes almost gasped when she saw the girl she spoke with earlier, in the very front row, tears in her eyes.

And Mercedes began to sing, putting all of her soul into every syllable.

_You are beautiful, no matter what they say_

_Words can't bring you down_

_You are beautiful, in every single way_

_Yes, words can't bring you down_

_So don't you bring me down today..._


	12. Don't Stop Believin'

_A/N: Sorry, more relationship fluff. :D I love to write it, haha! Enjoy and review._

_Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey (though I sure wish I did!) or the show Glee. _

_…_

_**Characters: Finn and Rachel**_

_**Tenth grade and twelfth grade.**_

_Don't stop believing,_

_Hold on to that feeling._

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Finn slammed his hand on the snooze button. He woke up to his old, peeling cowboy wallpaper. His forgotten homework in a pile by his bed. The view of his Lima, Ohio development outside the miniscule window.

Reminded of how he was a Lima Loser and always would be.

He sleepily went to school and witnessed Puck and the other jocks throwing "that gay kid" or "that dweeb" or "that AV club member" into the dumpster. He walked through the halls, probably with toothpaste still on his face, laughing about some joke he probably didn't find the least bit funny.

He was just going through the motions.

It was all the same. Until he met her.

...

_"Oh no! I've got to keep on movin'!"_

Rachel woke up, energetic and pumped for a new day. She made a banana flaxseed shake in her blender, then took a jog on her elliptical.

Then, she took a look in the mirror as she pulled off her sweaty tank top and shorts and pulled on her plaid skirt and sweater for school.

_You're gonna be a star._

_You're beautiful. Your dads say so._

_You're talented._

_You're gonna get out of Lima._

_You're gonna be a star._

But she couldn't help but think that she wasn't good enough. That she wouldn't cut it in the business.

If not in show business, than _definitely_ not in school.

There was a reason everyone hated her, wasn't there?

But she didn't need them. So she put a glowing smile on her face and acted like everything was okay. Acting was something she was good at.

It was all the same. Until she met him.

...

Her voice. It was beautiful. No, more than that. It was heavenly. He had never heard anything so amazing. So earth-shattering.

He had heard of her before. He had always known her as Rachel, that drama nerd in the plaid skirt with no friends. And kind of cute sequined legwarmers.

But on the stage, the way the light shone on her, she looked like an angel. An angel with huge brown eyes in a red t-shirt. It felt like time had stopped. All he could see was her. He felt a zing when he touched her hand, something electric.

For a moment, he felt whole. This girl wouldn't be a Lima Loser forever. She was going places. And with his voice interweaving and harmonizing with hers, he wouldn't be a Lima Loser either.

And he held on to that feeling.

...

The hot male lead and the stunning young ingenue. Maybe they could be that someday.

Not just Finn. Not just Rachel. But Finn _and_ Rachel. One name never without the other.

It was a silly dream. Finn had a girlfriend, a pretty, popular one at that.

But Rachel could forget that on the stage. His caramel eyes locked with hers. He smiled at her! A cute, sideways smile. He touched her hand! A warm, strong bear paw. She was lost in moments. Disbelief. Ecstasy. Wonder.

It was something worth fighting for. Besides being a star. Maybe, he'd actually notice her. Maybe, he'd be a friend. Maybe, he'd like her as more than a friend.

And she held on to that feeling.

...

Rachel sang the National Anthem at their graduation ceremony. Finn couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was gorgeous. She sang that familiar song, his hand on his heart.

_Your voice touched something in me. Right here._

Finn smiled at the memory, his hand on the left side of his chest this time.

They were the hot male lead and the stunning young ingenue. They were Finn _and _Rachel. Never apart. Always together.

He had felt whole for a while now. He had held on to that feeling.


End file.
